Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
RORY
The Shed was surprisingly busy this morning. There were already fighters sparring in the cage, Psychos wandering around like ants waiting for orders, and Slash was arguing with some guy over by the office.
“You stay with your friends and away from Slash. Got it? If the male fighters bother you, stab them. If Diesel bothers you, tell him you’re fine because he’s been on my ass about you,” Skeeter grumbled, surprising me slightly as he grabbed the back of my neck and tugged me closer to kiss the shit out of me, then he walked off without another word.
Slash noticed me standing there and his eyes narrowed, frustration washing over him as I gave him a little wave on my way towards the cage.
Was I pushing his buttons on purpose? Absolutely.
“Hey, Donovan. You here to spar?” Mule asked as I joined her, her face lighting up as I nodded. “Thank fuck. I need a good challenge today. I’ve been slacking.”
“Have I missed much?” I asked as I dropped my bag at my feet and bent down to rummage inside for my hand wraps. There was no point wrecking my knuckles in training.
“Just the pissing contest between the boss and your man,” she scoffed.
“He's not mine,” I muttered, a snicker leaving her.
“You sure about that? Lonnie was all over him yesterday, she literally forced a damn hand down his pants despite him telling her to fuck off. He broke her fucking hand, girl. I’ve never seen him so pissed before.
Threw her to the ground and stomped on it, telling her not to touch things that don’t belong to her. ”
“He broke her hand?” I repeated, sliding my gaze to Skeeter, who was now arguing with Slash. “Maybe he just doesn’t like her?”
“Skeeter doesn’t like anyone he fucks, you’re the exception. He’s totally got a thing for you,” she replied, giving me a wink. “You must be hella good in bed.” She suddenly winced, giving me an apologetic look. “Sorry, I forgot about—”
“It’s fine. Tristan tried to break me before and failed, this time was no different,” I said as if it were no big deal. “Besides, Skeet’s railed me multiple times since, and I’m fine.”
“If you need to talk, you can always call me,” she offered, letting it go when I simply nodded. “C’mon, I’ll help you wrap your hands so we can get started.”
Once my wraps were on properly and I’d taken my shoes and hoodie off, we walked into the middle of the cage and started stretching, going through basic warm-ups together. My eyes caught Diesel’s gaze at one point, and I gave him a small wave that earned me one in return.
He was busy talking to one of the male fighters outside the cage, but I knew he’d track me down later to check in.
I learned pretty quickly not to let my guard down when five minutes into sparring with Mule, someone slammed into me and knocked me to the ground.
“Lonnie!” Mule snapped, and fury went through me as Lonnie’s fist connected with my face.
Some of the guys started whistling as Lonnie wailed on me with the hand that wasn’t bandaged, and I let her think she had the upper hand until I suddenly flipped us over and pinned her to the floor by the throat.
She only had one good hand, so I had no idea why she thought she could best me.
“Get off me! You can’t fucking have him!” Lonnie screamed, thrashing about and not getting very far. “What’s so good about you? Huh? You’re nothing! Just a damaged academy bitch!”
My fist slammed down on her nose, making her buck more wildly from under me as she tried to fight back as blood ran down her face, but she went deathly still when I slipped my knife from my bra and flicked it open to press against her throat.
“You listen to me,” I said in a low voice, pushing the blade more firmly against her skin when she tried to struggle. “Don’t fuck with me today. Feel free to embarrass yourself by asking Skeet to choose between us, I’m not worried.”
“Donovan!” Slash barked as he stormed closer, but I didn’t back away. Lonnie’s eyes filled with panic as I pushed down harder, but pain spread across my scalp as Slash fisted my hair tightly. “Let her go. No weapons in the fucking cage.”
“She attacked me!” I spat, and he held my hair even more tightly.
“Then punch her in the face, don’t slit her throat. You’re not cut out to be a murderer, we’ve established this. Remove the knife from her neck before I stab you with it myself.”
I considered cutting her, but I pulled it back slowly, making sure to kneel on her bad hand on my way to my feet.
She screamed as she held it to her chest, but Slash didn’t let me enjoy it as he dragged me to his office with his fingers still gripping my hair, shoving me inside and making me land chest down on his desk.
Skeeter slipped in behind us before he could get locked out, but Slash didn’t give a shit about our audience as he hauled me around to face him and gripped my cheeks, forcing my eyes to his.
“You know the fucking rules, so abide by them or leave. We have enough shit to deal with right now, let alone burying unnecessary bodies. She only has one good hand, why did you need to pull a weapon on her?” My eyes slid to Skeeter’s, and Slash released me to slap my cheek firmly.
Not enough to really hurt, but enough to startle me.
“Don’t look at him, he’s not going to save you.
I let you come here because you asked so nicely on your knees last time. Don’t make me regret it.”
“She’s here today because I brought her and didn’t ask,” Skeeter said dryly, crossing his arms to glare at me. “The fuck was that out there?”
“You told me I could stab the fighters!” I threw back, making him scoff.
“Yeah, the creepy guys who won’t leave you alone. Laney isn’t exactly a danger to you.”
“Lonnie.”
“Whatever, I don’t give a fuck what her name is,” he bit out, and Slash growled.
“She’s not allowed to stab anyone here. The fuck, man?”
“Come on, if the creepy bastards in the cage can’t dodge a little girl with a knife, they don’t deserve to be in the cage in the first place,” Skeeter shrugged, making me scrunch my nose with disgust.
“Can you not call me a little girl? You fuck me, that’s weird.”
“It’s definitely weird that he’s still fucking you,” Slash grumbled under his breath before continuing. “If you don’t behave out there, you’ll be in the cage with me. Got it?”
“Wrong,” Skeeter snapped, grabbing my bicep and yanking me against his side. “She’s not one of the crew whores that you can boss around.”
“That’s exactly what she is!” Slash roared, throwing a chair across the room like a child and making me scoff.
“Wow, way to go, big man. You sure showed me.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Skeeter ordered as he gripped my arm more tightly, losing his patience.
“He’s throwing a tantrum that puts Holloway’s to shame.”
“I’m going to kill her, Skeet,” Slash snarled, pacing the room with his fists clenched.
“I’ll handle it,” Skeeter said calmly, tugging me towards the door and speaking under his breath. “Shut up and play nice with the girls. If he snaps, you’re going to get fucking hurt.”
“I could take him on,” I said a little louder than necessary, just to piss off Slash, but Skeeter’s fingers moved to the nape of my neck to make me walk a little faster.
“In what world do you think you could beat Slash in a fight? You’ve had one too many knocks to the head, Aurora. He kills people with his fists for the fun of it when he needs to, so shut your mouth, play with the girls, or I’m taking your ass to school.”
“I’m not—”
“Not. Another. Word,” he hissed, literally dragging me to the cage where Mule was waiting. Lonnie was still in there bitching about her wrist, and confusion washed over me when Skeeter shoved me at Mule before grabbing Lonnie by the elbow. “You, office.”
“Wait, Skeet. You’re not mad at me, right? She hurt my hand!” Lonnie said with outrage as if he wasn’t the one to break it in the first place, and I relaxed a little when he replied.
“Keep whining and I’ll break the other one so they match. You were told not to come back, so get in the fucking office so we can talk to you.”
“Skeet—” I started to say, but he glared at me over the top of the bitch’s head.
“I mean it. Behave or you’re gone too. I don’t fucking need this shit today.”
“Has something happened?”
He silently watched me for a second before shaking his head a little and stalking back to the office with a firm grip on Lonnie, slamming the door behind them.
“How do you not piss your pants when he’s glaring at you?” Mule muttered, and I shrugged.
“He’s not scary.” She stared at me, and I cringed. “Okay, he’s a little scary, but I’m used to it. He hasn’t killed me yet, right?”
“You’re not even flirting with death anymore, you’re riding its dick,” she chuckled, grabbing a bottle of water out of her bag and drinking some before motioning to the middle of the cage. “So, want to get back to it? Don’t knife me though.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” I grinned, following her into the center of the cage to keep sparring as if nothing had happened.
Skeeter
Girl drama wasn’t on my bingo card today, but I guess I didn’t get a say in it. I should’ve smacked both of them in the mouth and sent them packing. They both knew the rules, but I couldn’t make myself do it.
Lonnie? Sure, this bitch wasn’t likely to leave this room again, but Rory?
I just couldn’t, and I hated it.
I didn’t love beating up women, I wasn’t that kind of monster, but we had rules to follow, and I looked weak when I didn’t stick to it. My crew were noticing how slack I was on Rory, which was never good.
If they brought it up with Slash, they could overrule me about her and make her disappear.
I’d already thrown Lonnie out for putting her fucking hands all over me without my permission, so it was obvious she needed a lesson.
She was taking the brunt of my frustration, but I didn’t give a fuck about her. Lonnie was nothing but a fuck, a bad one at that, and she had no right to act like she was more important than Rory here.
Crew whores were replaceable.